| Bitcoin | $22,948 | 7 day: +26% | | Ethereum | $650 | 7 day: +17.6% | | All crypto | $649B | 7 day: +21.3% | | Bitcoin dominance | 65.3% | 7 day: +2.6% | Prices as of 5:30 p.m. EST
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An asset manager at One River commits to increase the company's cryptocurrency holdings to $1B by early 2021. One River has already bought approximately $600M and has committed to buy another $400M. - CEO of One River Asset Management, Eric Peters, spoke about establishing a new entity to leverage institutional interest in digital assets, especially bitcoin.
- Peters' company expects to raise its bitcoin and ether (ETH) holdings to about $1B by early next year.
- One River will offer the institutional service alongside Brevan Howard Asset Management and its billionaire hedge fund manager, Alan Howard.
- Howard owns 25% of One River Asset Management.
- Bloomberg suggests that U.K.'s Ruffer Investment Company (RICA.L) has also invested in One River.
Bloomberg 
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The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has licensed cryptocurrency exchange OSL, operated by BC Technology Group (0863.HK). OSL may provide digital asset brokerage and automated trading services. More: - On Dec. 15, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission approved a license for OSL, a subsidiary of the Fidelity-backed BC Group (0863.HK). OSL provides software-as-a-service for trading, brokerage, and custody.
- OSL can now facilitate securities and automated digital assets trading for individual and institutional investors.
- In August, the SFC approved OSL's "preliminary license" for virtual assets trading.
- OSL applied for an in-principle license approval on Nov. 7, 2019, to broker crypto trades.
- OSL has also applied for a license under the Singaporean Payment Services Act from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
BC Group
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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved a stop-gap measure to allow registered cryptocurrency entities to continue operating for six months while the FCA deals with a substantial backlog of applications. - "The SEC of the U.K" issued the notice on its website on Dec. 16, authorizing crypto companies that applied for registration with the FCA to continue existing operations.
- Only those crypto companies that registered before Dec. 16, 2020, are eligible for ongoing temporary registration.
- Any business entity dealing with cryptocurrencies that has failed to gain FCA registration must halt operations by Jan. 10, 2021 and return cryptocurrencies to customers.
- The FCA continues to battle money laundering involving cryptocurrencies. In July 2020, the U.K. watchdog warned companies that carry out crypto activities to complete registration before the next year's deadline.
Coindesk
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 Chart of BITW Bitwise 10 Crypto Index fund (BITW) has more than quadrupled in price since it started trading earlier this month. - A small asset fund by Bitwise Asset Management that started trading on the U.S. OTCQX has more than quadrupled within a month.
- The rise of BITW is reminiscent of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX:GBTC), which has an institutional arbitrage spread "that drives everything else in bitcoin," according to one hedge fund manager.
- The CEO of Grayscale, Barry Silbert, recently tweeted that Grayscale's total assets under management (AUM) have grown to $13B.
- The SEC has denied all bitcoin ETF applications to date, including Bitwise's numerous applications.
Bloomberg
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 German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz Germany's finance minister has announced a new law to replace certain paper documents, including securities, with all-electronic issuances. - Reuters reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel has approved a newly-introduced law aimed to ease paper documentation at clearing firms for transactions related to securities issuers and their holders.
- Traditionally, the country requires paper certification to document nearly all securities transactions.
- Olaf Scholz, the finance minister of Germany, said that electronic certificates would be cost-effective and lessen administrative difficulties.
- Germany's Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht suggested that the new legislation opens doors for potential technological use cases and more legal clarity.
Reuters
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California-based Kraken exchange will support the bitcoin Lightning Network. - By Q2 2021, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange will support Lightning Network's high-speed, cheap, highly controversial technology that, at times, was majority-controlled by the owner of LNBIG.
- Kraken is also hiring Lightning Network developers.
- The announcement briefly warns about the Lightning Network's proper use.
- At times controlled by a single person, Lightning Network has a centralized configuration and weak protections against system-originated attacks.
Kraken
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- An analyst note from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reads that bitcoin will not replace gold as the "inflation hedge of choice" for institutional investors, who are still broadly avoiding cryptocurrencies due to their lack of transparency and high volatility.
- Henri Arslanian, leader of cryptocurrency initiatives at PricewaterhouseCoopers, discussed the significance of institutional investors buying bitcoin during a Bloomberg interview. He suggested that stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) will be in focus during 2021.
- Rosenberg Research's David Rosenberg criticized bitcoin's "massive bubble" and overly crowded trade during a Bloomberg interview on Dec. 17.
- Since Ethereum (ETH) 2.0's soft launch, the total value of ether locked in 2.0 now exceeds $1B.
- The audit division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) released a redacted document for the public with details on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) efforts to obstruct illicit activities through dark websites.
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 |  | Curated by Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, and bitcoin follower since $1, Aaron Wise. Temporarily listening to news squawk boxes in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia. |  | | Editor | Charlotte Hayes-Clemens is an editor and writer based in Vancouver. She has dabbled in both the fiction and non-fiction world, having worked at HarperCollins Publishers and more recently as a writing coach for new and self-published authors. Proper semi-colon usage is her hill to die on. | |
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